. >> hagman, of course, was best known as that scheming oil baron j.r. ewing. abc's david muir. >> reporter: flowers in the south fork ranch in dallas. the backdrop for what would define america in the 1980s. at the center of it, larry hagman from ft. worth, reveling in his role the evil conniving oil man, j.r. ewing, here with his wife sue ellen, actress susan gray. >> you're a drunk and unfit mother. the sooner we have you put away in that sanitarium the better off you'll be. >> reporter: people loathed him and were disgusted by his ways but wooed by his wicked humor. >> don't forgive and don't forget and do unto others before they do unto you. >> reporter: when j.r. was shot in that 1980 cliff-hanger [ gunshots ] -- the world spent months asking "who shot j.r.?" even the queen mum who wanted to know who pulled the trigger. record households tuning in to learn the answer, it was j.r.'s scheming sister-in-law kristin. hagman himself in theater before tv. a five-year run on "i dream of jeannie." the astronaut and the genie who loved him. >> master, it's almost